Police raiding homes across Birmingham and the Black Country arrested ten people on suspicion of using drones to drop Class A and B drugs into prisons across the country - including four in the Midlands.

The 'significant' arrests came after a painstaking police investigation into the smuggling of banned goods to serving prisoners.

The gang are also accused of using the high-tech machines to deliver mobile phones and SIM cards into jails, between April 2016 and June last year.

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“Much of the violence behind bars is linked to drug use and supply so it’s vitally important we do all we can to cut off the supply lines – and anyone convicted of supplying banned substances into prisons can soon expect to be inmates themselves.”

The eight men, aged between 20 and 43, plus two women aged 34 and 40, were arrested in the early hours of Wednesday from addresses in Coseley, Tipton, Dudley, Oldbury, Weoley Castle, Northfield and Minworth.